California’s candidates for governor will meet days before mail ballots arrive, with affordability, taxes and state spending among the issues expected to take center stage.
Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are scheduled to meet in a nationally televised gubernatorial debate on Sept. 30, just days before California voters begin receiving mail ballots for the Nov. 3 election.
The candidates have offered sharply different approaches on taxes, spending, regulation and California’s relationship with the federal government.
A Public Policy Institute of California survey conducted Sept. 4–10 measured support among likely voters at 60% for Becerra and 38% for Hilton. The same survey found 65% of likely voters said the candidates’ positions on affordability and the cost of living were very important to their vote.
The survey results are a snapshot of voter preferences during the period in which respondents were interviewed and do not predict the election outcome.
